Persons who employ ladders in their work routine often experience problems such as having insufficient work space, having to make repeated trips up and down the ladder to retrieve needed tools, and having plug connections for power tools and the like becoming disengaged. Heretofore, a variety of ladder peripheral devices have been designed and employed in an attempt to solve at least some of these problems associated with ladder usage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,008 issued to Kay on Aug. 30, 1994, is one recent example of an attempt to provide increased work space at the top of a step ladder. The Kay reference teaches a large, rigid panel or platform attached to the stepladder by means of channels which, in turn, are connected to brackets. While the invention of Kay may be useful for some type stepladders, and even rung ladders, it is not seemingly adaptable to the most common stepladders having an A-frame configuration and terminating at the top with a small rectangular step surface. Instead, the stepladders to which Kay is directed are those having a hand rest extending beyond the top of the last step.
A similar invention can be observed in the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,954 issued Mar. 9, 1993, to Ledford. Here, a ladder platform and utility frame means is formed by a foot plate supported by adjacent ladder rungs and an open frame mounted on an elongated rod entering the lowermost ladder rung supporting the foot plate. The Ledford reference also accomplishes additional work space for rung ladders, but is not seemingly adaptable to conventional stepladders. Moreover, the invention of Ledford has many parts to achieve the intended result and, thus, is much more complicated than the subject invention described below.
One earlier reference, U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,620 issued Jun. 23, 1992 to Bourne, discloses an accessory container which is designed to be mounted over the top platform of a stepladder. The container includes a forward compartment defined by four walls and a bottom and is open at the top to provide storage space for holding tools, equipment and other work supplies that are needed by the worker when he or she is using the stepladder to perform construction or maintenance chores. The Bourne container was an excellent advancement in providing additional work space at the top of a stepladder, but also suffered from some significant shortcomings, namely it was not intended to remain permanently secured to the ladder, but had to be removed and replaced on an as needed basis, and its rigid, open container construction did not lend itself to tool organization. It was more like a storage bucket where tools and the like would be tossed in together making it more difficult to easily access the tool needed at any particular time.
In May of 1991, prior to the teachings of Bourne, Design Patent No. 317,206 was issued to Cagle which had the opposite problem. The invention of Cagle disclosed a tool holder for stepladders which took the form of a bag draped over the top of the ladder's top platform. The bag was secured with hook and loop straps and had, on one side, two pouch-like compartments for the storage of tools. The pouches were generally like those found on a worker's utility belt, such that tools could be snugly inserted and more easily organized. The Cagle design, however, completely ignored the need for an increased working area and was considered to be too small to offer significant advantage to the user. Moreover, it did not lend itself to remaining securely attached to the ladder when the ladder was in the closed position for transport.
Another shortcoming of prior art ladder peripherals is their failure to address the problem of falling extension cords which occurs when the power tool cord accidentally disengages from the extension cord. Many outdoor extension cords are constructed of thick, heavy insulated coatings. When attached to a power tool cord, the increasing force exerted on the connection as the tool is carried up the ladder causes separation of the plug from the socket and the extension cord falls to the ground. The worker then has the burden of climbing back down to retrieve the cord which has likely become tangled in the bushes below. Even if the cords do not become disconnected, the worker must support not only the weight of the tool itself, but of the attached extension cord leading to fatigue. Many workers attempt to prevent the occupance of fallen cords or the necessity of supporting the cord's additional weight by tying the extension cord to the top of the ladder. Such a practice can create a dangerous hazard and is not a foolproof solution to the problems sought to be resolved.
The subject invention obviates those shortcomings of the prior art by providing a multi-purpose ladder apron capable of holding a variety of different tools, parts and other accessories securely and in an organized fashion while simultaneously providing one or more additional working surfaces at the top of the ladder as well as a means for plugging in one or more power tools.